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Cambodia

Mobile Network Experience Report
August 2023

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.

Author: Sam Fenwick, Principal Analyst Data Collection Period: Apr 01 - Jun 29, 2023

Cambodia

Mobile Network Experience Report
August 2023

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.

Author: Sam Fenwick, Principal Analyst

Data Collection Period: Apr 01 - Jun 29, 2023

Key Findings

Cellcard keeps a tight grip on the Download Speed Experience award

Our Cellcard users continue to observe the fastest overall download speeds in Cambodia, winning the award for the second time in a row. Cellcard snatched the award away from Smart in the the last report, closing out Smart’s three-report-long winning streak. Cellcard wins this time with a score of 22Mbps and a lead of 3.2Mbps over second-placed Smart. Metfone is in third place with 13Mbps. All three operators’ scores have increased significantly since last time, with our Cellcard and Smart users seeing rises of 3-3.1Mbps, while Metfone users’ speeds have risen by a more modest 1.9Mbps.

Smart users have the most consistent experience in Cambodia

Smart is the first Cambodian operator to win the new Consistent Quality award, which replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards. Smart comes top with a score of 56.4%, giving it a lead of 2.3 percentage points over second-placed Cellcard’s 54.1%. Metfone is in last place with 46.7%, some way behind its rivals. Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support more demanding common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.

Smart comes top for 4G Availability

Once again, Smart is the outright winner of the 4G Availability award. It does so this time with a score of 95% and a lead of 3.4 percentage points over Metfone, which comes second with 91.6%. Cellcard remains the only Cambodian operator below the 90% mark with 84%. Smart’s score means that our Smart 4G users spend 95% of their time with a 4G connection.

Cellcard and Smart users have the best experience when streaming both on-demand and live mobile video

Cellcard and Smart are joint winners of both the Video Experience and Live Video Experience awards, as their scores for both categories are statistically tied. They win Video Experience with scores of 53.3-54.9 points on a 100-point scale, while Metfone comes last with 49.4 points. For Live Video Experience — Cellcard and Smart win with scores of 45.5-47.6 points, while Metfone brings up the rear with 40 points. All three Cambodian operators place in the Fair (48-58) category for Video Experience. However, only Cellcard and Smart place in the Good (43-53) category for Live Video Experience, while Metfone has to settle for a Fair (33-43) rating instead.

Smart lengthens its Voice App Experience winning streak

This is now the third report in a row in which our Smart users observed the best experience in Cambodia when using over-the-top voice apps. Smart and Metfone shared the award in the February 2022 report, but Smart then broke the statistical tie between it and Metfone to win the award outright. This time around, Smart comes top with a score of 75.4 points on a 100-point scale, 1.2 points ahead of second-placed Metfone. Cellcard is in last place with 72.8 points.

Mobile Experience Awards

August 2023, Cambodia Report
Download Image

Market Overview

Smart continues to have the lion’s share of awards, this time winning three outright (Voice App Experience, 4G Availability and the new Consistent Quality award), while being a joint winner across a further five categories. Cellcard has the next most impressive haul, being the sole winner of the Download Speed Experience award and a joint winner across three categories (Video Experience, Live Video Experience and Availability).

Meanwhile, Metfone is a joint winner for Games Experience and Upload Speed Experience — both alongside Smart. These are changes from the previous report, when Cellcard and Smart shared the Games Experience and there was a three-way statistical tie for the Upload Speed Experience award. Metfone has dropped off the winners’ podium for Availability, as the award is now shared only by Cellcard and Smart, rather than by all three operators as was the case last time around.

In this report, we've analyzed our data gathered in the 90-day period starting on April 1, 2023, and ending on June 29, 2022, to see how Cambodia’s three national operators — Cellcard, Metfone and Smart — measure up.

Overall Experience
Coverage
Consistency
Video Experience
Live Video Experience
Games Experience
Voice App Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Cellcard
53.3
Metfone
49.4
Smart
54.9
015304560
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Live Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Cellcard
47.6
Metfone
40.0
Smart
45.5
012.52537.550
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Games Experience
in 0-100 points
Cellcard
49.7
Metfone
50.3
Smart
53.0
014284256
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Voice App Experience
in 0-100 points
Cellcard
72.8
Metfone
74.2
Smart
75.4
020406080
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
Cellcard
22.0
Metfone
13.0
Smart
18.7
06.51319.526
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
Cellcard
5.9
Metfone
6.4
Smart
6.1
02468
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

Definitions

Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.

In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:

  • 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
  • Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
  • 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.

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Definitions

Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.

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Definitions

Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.

Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.

Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.

In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:

  • 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
  • Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
  • 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.

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Definitions

Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.

In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:

  • 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
  • Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
  • 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.

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Definitions

Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.

In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:

  • 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
  • Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
  • 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).

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Definitions

Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.

In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:

  • 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
  • Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
  • 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).

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Cellcard

Metfone

Smart

Availability
4G Availability
Availability
% of time
Cellcard
94.0
Metfone
92.0
Smart
94.9
0255075100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
4G Availability
% of time
Cellcard
84.0
Metfone
91.6
Smart
95.0
0255075100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

Definitions

Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.

We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.

Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.

Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.

Map Definition

The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.

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Definitions

Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.

We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.

Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.

4G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 4G device and a 4G subscription — but have never connected to 5G — had a 4G connection.

Map Definition

The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.

Learn more

Consistent Quality
Consistent Quality
% of tests
Cellcard
54.1
Metfone
46.7
Smart
56.4
015304560
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

Definitions

Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.

We combine different experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate Consistent Quality. These components are evaluated against thresholds recommended by various more demanding common applications used for a range of common tasks.

To calculate the metric value, the proportion of tests that pass the requirements of Consistent Quality is multiplied by the test success ratio, which is the proportion of completed tests to all tests conducted. Tests that pass indicate that activities such as video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications will be possible without noticeable lag or slowdown.

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Related Analysis

Our Methodology

Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.

About Opensignal

Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.

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